Monorail bogies for supporting monorail cars are known in the art, and are used in many monorail car assemblies. However, a common deficiency with monorail bogies is that they are expensive and do not allow adjacent monorail cars to be positioned close together. In addition, a common deficiency with monorail bogies is that as the bogies travel around curves in the track, load tire forces cause high bogie guide tire forces which results in skewed load wheel operation.
A desirable feature for many monorail and other conventional transit car assemblies is for adjacent cars to be positioned relatively close together so as to permit a walk-through space between the cars and in addition to minimize overall train length. Obviously, when the cars are positioned far apart, with a large space therebetween, the increased distance between cars makes it more difficult to safely design a walk through space. In addition, the larger space between cars results in a longer train which results in a longer station and increased station and land acquisition costs. A desirable feature for many transit car assemblies is to minimize bogie guide tire forces and to minimize load tire skew angles as this will minimize guide tire and load tire wear and maximize tire life.
In light of the above, it can be seen that there is a need in the industry for an improved monorail bogie that alleviates, at least in part, the deficiencies of the prior art, and improves on the overall functionality of existing monorail bogies.